I chose to do both (for 7 years). looking back, the smarter decision was to concentrate on my studies.

 

If you work instead of studying, most probably after the gap you will find it hard to re-start your studies. It's not realistic to think you will remember everything you have studied until now. There's also a possibility that, after getting used to you making money, your family will keep depending on you working, even after starting your studies again (or at least, they will be reluctant to give you pocket money).

 

The difference between working and studying is that, working is a way to exchange your time for money as part of a bigger system that makes much more money for your boss, while studying is a way for you to rise your money-making ability. "Studying" is part of your dreams, "Working" is making part of somebody else's dreams.

 

Also, from experience I can tell you this: Your expenses will rise and you will get used to it, and after you get used to money, you will feel helpless without a job.

 

If you choose to self-study, be warned that there's a risk you will fall into a deep procrastination, depending of your discipline level. It's easy to let days and months pass by when you aren't under the pressure of a teacher. Carefully select the courses you will attend to, in a way that you get the most out of this period, no matter how tired you are at the end of the day.

 

Depending on your behavior, this can be the most productive time of your pregrad, or just a total waste of time.

⭐I have to admit, this year I've been working so much that I haven't had free time to do anything. So I'll have to talk about past years

Maintained computer systems for a charter school for free. Also provided any computer training for the teachers for free
Volunteered at food bank - to be fair, this was a company wide thing…but I was there and enjoyed helping
Periodically take items to the homeless (clothing, food, etc)
Teach various people computer programming, and QA related work, for free
Had setup a non profit for giving people in low income neighborhoods computer hardware training skills (the ability to repair computers). This fizzled out after about a year

⭐ Completely is my studies and help the people